Upper North Platte River Basin (8)
February 2000

Snow
The snow courses above Seminoe Reservoir have about 82 percent of average
snow water equivalent (SWE) recorded for this time of the year (83 percent
of last year). SWE in the drainage area above Northgate is about 90
percent of average and 92 percent of last year at this time. SWE in the
Encampment River drainage is about 74 percent of normal and 81 percent of
last year. Brush Creek SWE for the year is about 85 percent of normal and
78 percent of last year's SWE. Medicine Bow and Rock Creek drainage SWE is
about 67 percent of average and 71 percent of last year at this time. For
more information see Basin Summary of Snow Courses at the beginning of this
report.

Precipitation
Eight reporting stations indicate January precipitation was 89 percent of
average and about 146 percent of last year's amount. January precipitation
varied from 25 percent of average at Wamsutter to 176 percent of average at
Willow Creek PS SNOTEL. Total water-year-to-date precipitation is about
78 percent of average for the basin, which is about 62 percent of last
year's amount. Year to date percentage ranges from 46 to 96 for the 8
reporting stations.

Reservoirs
Seminoe Reservoir is currently storing about 156 percent of normal for this
time of the year. Currently, the reservoir is storing 112 percent of last
year's amount. Currently, Seminoe Reservoir storage is estimated to be
storing 845,600 acre-feet (83 percent of capacity). Last year, at this
time, the reservoir had 756,700 acre-feet in storage.

Streamflow
All the following yields are based on the fifty percent chance April
through September yield. Yield for the North Platte River near Northgate
is expected to be about 156,000 acre-feet (58 percent of average).
Encampment River near Encampment is estimated to yield 63,000 acre-feet (40
percent of normal). North Platte River near Sinclair will yield about
358,000 acre-feet (50 percent of normal). Rock Creek near Arlington is
estimated to yield 44,000 acre-feet (79 percent of average). Medicine Bow
River above Seminoe Reservoir is expected to yield about 57,000 acre-feet
(45 percent of normal). Seminoe Reservoir inflow should be about (423,000
acre-feet (50 percent of normal). See the following table for more
detailed information on projected runoff.